Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith
The ego-maniacal prophet
by Dr. David R. Reagan

The Mormon Church is the largest Christian cult in the world today, claiming a membership in excess of 10 million.1

It is a cult for many reasons, the most important being the fact that it proclaims a false Messiah. The Jesus of the Mormons is the brother of Lucifer, one of thousands of gods created by the super-god, Adam, an exalted man. The Mormon's perverted concept of Jesus is just one of many demonic doctrines which the church inherited from its founder, Joseph Smith.2

Smith's Origins

Joseph Smith (1805-1844) was born in Vermont and raised in upstate New York near a town called Palmyra. This was the heart of what came to be called "the burned-over district" because of its frequent and fervent Protestant revivals.3

Smith claimed that his first revelation from God came at the age of 14 on the Smith family farm. In subsequent encounters, Smith said that God revealed to him that all Christian groups since the death of the apostles had strayed from the true Church of Christ. He claimed that he was given the responsibility to restore the one and only true church.4

In later visions Smith claimed that he was led to tablets of gold stored in a nearby hillside. These tablets supposedly contained a history of the ancient inhabitants of North America. His "translations," written in perfect King James English, were published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. This book was to become the sacred scripture of Mormonism.

Smith's Church

Smith formally founded his church - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - shortly after the publication of his book. His "driving personality and immense personal charisma" resulted in explosive growth for the new church.5

Shortly after the establishment of the church, Smith moved to Kirtland Mills, Ohio, where he hoped to establish the kingdom of God on earth. A banking panic in 1837 caused the economic collapse of the Kirtland settlement, and this, together with spreading rumors of polygamy, caused many Mormons to leave the church. Smith headed west to Missouri. Within a year, a civil war broke out between Smith's followers and their neighbors who feared their growing political might. The governor of Missouri ordered the Mormons to leave the state.

This time Smith and his flock headed east to Illinois. In 1839 they founded a new city called Nauvoo on the Mississippi River, near the city of Quincy. Within five years the city grew to nearly 20,000 residents. Once again, the rapid growth stirred suspicion and resentment among their neighbors. Opposition to the Mormons intensified as rumors of polygamy began to spread. (Polygamy was still a confidential tenet of the faith.)

Smith's Martyrdom

In 1844 Smith announced that he was going to run for President of the United States. This announcement fueled a new wave of antagonism toward the Mormons. The climax came shortly thereafter when a newspaper controlled by Mormon dissenters revealed the church's practice of polygamy. Smith was outraged over this revelation, and he ordered the destruction of the newspaper's press. He was arrested for inciting a riot and was imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois. Before he could be tried, a mob broke into the jail and brutally killed both him and his brother.

The murder of the founder led to a split in the church. The majority rallied around Brigham Young who, as president of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, claimed to be Smith's rightful successor. He soon led his followers west to Utah. Those who rejected Young's leadership eventually formed the Reorganized Latter-Day Saints and selected Joseph Smith's son as their leader. They remained in Missouri and claim to this day to be the true church.6

Smith's Status as a Prophet

One of the first and most important principles of the Mormon faith is that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. In fact, many would contend that he was the greatest prophet of all times. In defense of this claim, his followers point to prophecies of his which were fulfilled in history.

The first of these is an oral prophecy he supposedly gave on August 6, 1842 in which he prophesied that the Mormons would continue to suffer affliction until they moved to the Rocky Mountains where they would become "a mighty people."7 This prophecy is contained in the diary of a man named Anson Call, but the prophecy was not recorded by Mr. call until 1845 (after Smith's death), and it appears as an interlinear insertion which experts have determined was added after the Mormons actually arrived in Utah.

A second famous prophecy the Mormons point to is one that Smith supposedly made in May of 1843 when he proclaimed that Stephen A. Douglas would aspire to the Presidency and would be defeated if he ever turned against the Mormons.8 This prophecy was supposed to be in the diary of a man named William Clayton, but it has since been discovered that the manuscript of that diary contains no such prophecy.

The third prophecy that supposedly validates Smith as a true prophet of God is one given in February of 1844. Smith prophesied that "within five years the Mormons will be out of the power of their enemies."9 This prophecy came true. By 1849, the Mormons had set up their theocracy in Utah and were no longer plagued by their enemies.

Perhaps Smith's most spectacular prophecy is one he supposedly made in 1839.10 It was not recorded at the time, but it is quoted in many Mormon historical documents. Smith stated that the wrath of God was hanging over Jackson County, Missouri (because of the way Mormons had been treated there). He warned that if the people of the county did not stop persecuting Mormons, "you will live to see the day when it [the county] will be visited by fire and sword... the fields and houses will be destroyed, and only the chimneys will be left to mark the desolation."

This prophecy was fulfilled in 1863 when Union troops were ordered to burn all houses and crops in the county because of the anti-Union guerrilla warfare being waged by its residents. The resulting action was considered to be one of the worst atrocities of the war.

One other prophecy by Smith that Mormons point to is one he made about his bodyguard, Porter Rockwell.11 Smith reportedly told Mr. Rockwell that if he never cut his hair, he would die in bed. Rockwell complied, and in spite of living a very violent life, he died peacefully.

Prophetic Failures

But what Mormons conveniently overlook are the myriad of prophecies Smith gave which were never fulfilled - prophecies that clearly mark him as a false prophet.

Richard Packham, a retired attorney and former Mormon, has compiled a list of more than 60 prophecies by Joseph Smith that have never been fulfilled to this day.12 Among the more significant are the following:

Prophecy #1 - Temple to be built in Independence, Missouri. In September of 1832 Joseph Smith prophesied that the New Jerusalem and a new temple would be built in Zion, Missouri, a site near Independence.13 He further stated that his generation would not all pass away until these events took place. The temple was never built in Smith's lifetime or within the generation of his contemporaries. The Mormons were driven out of Missouri in 1839. The site where the temple was to be built is not even owned today by the Mormon Church.

Prophecy #2 - The End of all nations. In December 1832 Smith prophesied that South Carolina would rebel against the federal government, resulting in a war that would spread worldwide and would result in the "full end of all nations."14 Nothing needs to be said about the failure of this bizarre prophecy.

Prophecy #3 - The Return of the Lord. In 1835, as the prophecies of William Miller were growing in popularity, Joseph Smith stated that "the return of the Lord is nigh - even fifty-six years should wind up the scene."15 The 56 years passed in 1891. In a diary entry dated April 6, 1843, Smith repeated this prophecy, stating the Lord would return when "I am 85 years old, 48 years hence, or about 1890."16 Smith was killed when he was 39 years old.

Prophecy #4 - The Liberty jail prophecies. In March of 1839 Smith issued a whole package of prophecies from his jail cell in Liberty, Missouri.17 Among other things, he predicted that his enemies would be destroyed "by the sword," that his friends would never charge him with transgressions, and that God was about to change the times and seasons. None of these prophecies came true. The enemies of the Mormons were not destroyed, God did not change the times and seasons, and Smith's friends did turn on him with serious charges that ultimately led to his arrest and death.

Prophecy #5 - The United States Government to be overthrown. In May of 1843 Smith prophesied that if the United States government did not redress the wrongs suffered by the Mormons in Missouri, the government would be "utterly overthrown and wasted."18 The federal government rejected the Mormon petitions and their "wrongs" were not redressed, yet the U.S. government continued to exist.

Prophecy #6 - His son to succeed him. In April 1844 Smith prophesied that his son would succeed him and would become "president and king of Israel."19 The child was named David. Needless to say, he never became "president and king of Israel." Nor did he succeed his father. He died in 1904 at the age of 60, after spending the last 27 years of his life in an insane asylum.

Other Failed Prophecies

Many of Smith's incorrect prophecies, like the one concerning his son, were related to individuals. For example, in 1835 he prophesied that Orson Hyde would go to Jerusalem and prepare the way for the regathering of the Jewish people.20 Hyde never went to Jerusalem.

In like manner, in 1837 Smith prophesied that the president of the Church's Council of Twelve Apostles, a man named Thomas Marsh, would go forth "unto the ends of the earth" to preach to both Jews and Gentiles.21 Less than two years later, Marsh was excommunicated!

In 1841 Smith declared that a fellow named George Miller was a man "without guile" who could be trusted, and that no man should "despise my servant George, for he shall honor me."22 Seven years later, George Miller was excommunicated.

When you consider Joseph Smith's sordid record of failed prophecies, can there be any doubt that he was a false prophet who spoke for anyone except the true God of this universe?

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

In conclusion, let's take a look at one of Smith's most spectacular fulfilled prophecies, one that Mormons never mention. In July of 1828, when he was 23 years old, Smith made the following proclamation:23

"For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him."

On May 26, 1844 (at age 39) Smith made the following statement in a public sermon:24

"Come on, ye persecutors, ye false swearers! All hell boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! For I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-Day Saints never ran away from me yet."
These startling words make it clear that in the short span of 16 years, Smith became an ego-maniac. He became the epitome of the arrogant man he warned about in his prophetic statement in 1828. One month after his blasphemous sermon, his 1828 prophecy was fulfilled when he was killed by his enemies.